This invention relates to packaging systems for devices and objects, and, more particularly, to systems for packaging such items in selectively variable quantities. There are many different types of products that are packaged in plastic or metal bottles or vials. One such product that comprises a very large commercial activity is diagnostic test strips used for medical, chemical, and biological tests and assays.
Many medical, chemical and biological diagnostic tests and assays for laboratory and home use have been reduced to an optimally simple routine: immerse a test strip or stick into a liquid, and observe the change in color of the test strip or stick to read the results of the test. Tests that formerly required days of laboratory work may now be carried out in seconds, with a reliability factor that exceeds former, more time-consuming methods. Generally speaking, the strips or sticks (hereinafter, "strips") comprise long, narrow pieces of paper, plastic, or similar sheet material that carry carefully formulated combinations of highly specific reagents, reactants, or assay compounds.
The sheet material may be manufactured in large amounts, generally as long webs of the sheet material wound on spools to form a compact roll. Typically, the web material is first fed from the roll into a cutter that forms smaller, uniform cards, and each card is then fed through the cutter assembly. The cards are fabricated into the test strips using a strip cutter assembly, which comprises two cutter spindle assemblies, each having a plurality of cutting disks secured in longitudinally spaced relationship. The disks of the adjacent cutter assemblies are disposed in paired relationship, each pair being closely adjacent with overlapping peripheral edges. The cutter assemblies are driven to rotate, so that cards passing therethrough are severed into a large plurality of strips in one operation. A necessary outcome of this process is that the test strips are formed in discrete groups or batches, all having the same number of strips. As a rule, the subsequent automated packaging machinery is optimized to handle the strips in these groups, so that each package contains a number of strips equal to the number of strips in each group emanating from the strip cutter assembly.
However, the demands of the marketplace require that many products be packaged in quantities that differ from the number determined by the strip cutter assembly, or any similar manufacturing process that produces items in groups that are numerically identical For example, packages of small numbers of items may be required for samples, or trial offers, while several different packaging quantities may be needed by the end consumer, depending on the use patterns, pricing policies, and the like.
For manufacturing efficiency, it is advantageous to produce a product on one system, and not be required to provide several systems because of differing packaging needs. Therefore, a system that can manufacture and package a product in a variety of quantity configurations can offer many advantages to the manufacturer; e.g., lower capital cost, smaller manufacturing space requirements, lower labor costs, higher quality, and faster response to changing market demands. The state of the art is deficient in such flexible manufacturing and packaging systems.